


Layers of Ash

by OswinGaradex



Category: RWBY
Genre: Eventual Relationships, F/F, F/M, Lesbian Character, Post-Volume 3 (RWBY), Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 21:22:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7817779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OswinGaradex/pseuds/OswinGaradex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two months after the attack. Vale has fallen and the Wyvern still clings to the tower. A layer of carnage and ash have consumed the once great city. Salem and Cinder prepare their next moves while the pieces on the board once again shift in their favor, while the scattered team RWBY and what's left of team JNPR prepare for a greater battle than what they've ever seen. </p><p>Post Volume Three. I do not own RWBY or it's characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Layers of Ash

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will mostly focus on Blake and Yang, and Jaune and (sort of but you'll just have to see)Pyrrha (but Arkos isn't what your thinking I bet). The first chapter is centered on team RWBY just to set things in motion and to give you a feel for the setting. Hope you like it, please comment/review. 
> 
> For the first few chapters, the song lyrics at the beginning are from the song "Blood Red Roses" by f21 cx.

_"A storm is loosed upon the sea_  
Whose eye is stained with tears.  
A wretch Hell-bound and bent on blood,  
the makings of the fearful's fears."  
  
Ruby Rose sat in the dark of the night, the only light for miles coming from her scroll. The small piece of technology was held up next to her small ear, illuminating a small cut that had left a trickle of dried blood down her lobe and the bark of a nearby tree. Static fizzled from her scroll as the grainy transmission from what was most likely a small private radio played. Shortly after the battle of beacon which, to Ruby’s knowledge was still raging in some form or other, the CCTS tower had fallen under control of the enemy. The static made it hard to hear the voice that was coming through, but Ruby got the general effect of the message, and it made her heart sink even deeper.  
  
Holding back a scream the young huntress tucked her scroll away in her pocket, and let the news sink in. The death count from Vale was in, and it was massive. Out of its numerous citizens, half had died. Millions of innocent people were gone. Dead.  
  
She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to burry herself in her red cloak and hide from the world forever. But she couldn’t let herself do that. Not yet anyways.  
  
Balling small hands into fists, Ruby Rose hit the hardened dirt. The ground was cool as she pounded at it with her small fists. Over and over she let loose what little frustration she could through the act of a fifteen year old girl hitting the ground. The colorless ground before her grew blotchy as she held back tears from the wave of frustration that all but crashed into her. This was not supposed to happen! She was supposed to be able to protect all those people! She was supposed to be able to prevent this! She was a huntress! _But you couldn’t protect them, and now you just have to clean up what of the mess you can._  
  
Hands throbbing, the red caped girl leaned back against the tree, wincing as the bark dug into one of her more prominent bruises of the day. Her eyes quickly traveled over the three silhouettes of her sleeping friends. Nora, Ren and Jaune all lay sleeping beside the snuffed out remains of a campfire. After the first week of their small fires attracting packs of ferocious Grimm in the middle of the night, the four teens had decided to take their chances in the dark. They were already miserable enough, no need to add half a dozen Grimm to the mix. It’s not like any of them got much sleep anyways.  
  
Ruby sighed and rubbed her eyes. A small part of the usually optimistic Huntress was wishing she had just stayed back in their home at Patch with Yang. That same small part of her was telling her to turn back. That it was hopeless. They had been on the road just shy of two months and they had gotten almost nowhere! With half the airships going to Vale to clear out refugees, and the rest having been hijacked or destroyed in the battle, they hadn’t been able to get a quick ride to even the mere direction of Haven. Although none of them had expected their journey to be a walk in the park, Ruby was wishing they could’ve at least gotten a little bit further in their journey and a small part of her was starting to listen more and more to the part of that kept saying it was hopeless.  
  
But Ruby always decided not to listen. She had to help whatever people she could. She knew that this was their only lead, and that this was the only way that they may be able to avenge the deaths of all the civilians and to help the survivors.  
  
_It’s the only way we can avenge Pyrrha._

 _I’m sorry I couldn’t help you Pyrrha._ Pyrrha, the strongest warrior that Ruby knew. While team RWBY had been able to fight well above the level of the normal teams in their grade, Pyrrha had them all beat. The Spartan warrior had easily dispatched team CRDL with ease and the rest of the first and second year teams with what could be considered a certain amount of grace. She had been untouchable and one of Ruby’s closest friends, even after she accidently slaughtered Penny during the Vytal Festival.  
  
_It’s the only way we could have a chance of saving Penny. Oh Penny._

Penny, the sweet girl who, though very socially awkward, was a synthetic person with a heart of gold. She had charmed her way into Ruby’s heart and had quickly become one of her closest friends. True, Ruby hadn’t quite taken to her at first but after they had exchanged a few conversations, she saw a little bit of herself in the innocent teen. Penny had been excitable and friendly and had immediately tried to make friends with team RWBY. Ruby had been the only one to accept her friendship and the young leader didn’t regret a single second of it.  
  
The two fallen friends of Ruby Rose were never far from her mind. Ruby Rose had lost her innocence that day as she saw two of her best friends die right before her eyes. Penny who was unintentionally killed by the gentle yet strong Pyrrha, who then in turn was burnt to ash by fighting off the woman who seemed to be a goddess of fire. The deaths of the two girls would haunt Ruby forever -the young warrior knew this- but the red caped girl would find whoever it was who did this, and they would regret ever taking away the young girls innocence.  
  
\------------------------------------------------   
_Back straight, slash, parry, forward, form one. Good. Now spin, step forward, cut, step back, form two. Alright. Breath in, breath out, slash, deflect, jab, thrust, parry, form three. Remember your training. Back straight, slash, parry, forward, form one.Not as good, try again. Back straight, slash, parry, forward, form one. Good, keep going_.  
  
Weiss let the monotone bliss of her training exercises wash over her. Sweat trickled in small rivulets over her forehead and down her neck, soaking into her training uniform. The Heiress to the Schnee dust company had been practicing for hours and her muscles felt it. Every part of her body was screaming in agony, but she didn’t dare stop. Every single second of training she got in was another second that she didn’t have to think about. It was another fraction of experience on her seemingly never-ending quest to perfection. That was all that seemed to matter anymore. Perfection. She wouldn’t take anything less.  
  
Had she been perfect then none of those people would’ve died at Vale. She could’ve summoned an army of Golems to cut down every Altesian knight gone haywire. If she had been perfect she could’ve cut down every Grimm with Myrenaster and none of her glyphs would've missed their mark. It was quite the childish dream, Weiss knew this of course, but she could still wish.  
  
_Back straight, slash, parry, forward, form one. Better. Now spin, step forward, cut, step back, form two. Again. Spin, step forward, cut, step back, form two. You can do better Weiss. Head up, spin, step forward, cut, step back, form two. Good.Breath in, breath out, slash, deflect, jab, thrust, parry, form three. No! Again! Slash, deflect, jab, thrust, parry, form three!_  
  
Wiess’s breath came in heavy fits in spurts as her chest rose and fell in an uneven pattern. Her arms shook as she moved from one form to the next. Ice blue eyes narrowed as she gritted her teeth against her quaking muscles. She wanted so desperately to be able to help, but her father had dragged her away from the battle. He had never been approving of her choice of career paths, but had reluctantly given in to her constant onslaught of pestering and commissioned her a training golem. The golem had been hulking and monstrous and good with its sword, but it was only a mechanical trainer and due to its size had been slow. Weiss had found that out within her first day of training.  
  
On that first day of training, Weiss could barely hold her sword. Her grip had been incorrect, her footwork sloppy and the young girl who had had the dream of fighting and had been a seeker of adrenaline had quickly been beaten by the hulking training golem. When the day had found itself to be over the young Heiress had a new spread of bruises and a father who was expecting to have to return yet another one of his daughters expensive toys that was not to her liking. But with her failure, it was like a spark had ignited in Weiss. The young Heiress had found through her bruises and scrapes a smile and the will to master the training golem. That girl had only been a fraction of Weiss today.

_Step out, swipe, jab, deflect, turn, form four.Again._

One year later Weiss was able to beat the training Golem half of the time and was improving every day.

_Step out, jab, swipe, deflect, turn, form four.Wrong! Get it together! Step out, jab, swipe, deflect turn form four. Better._

Two years later, Weiss was beating it on a regular basis and mastering forms that master swordsmen would stumble over.

_Left, around, back straight, thrust, form five.Good, but not good enough._

Three years later she broke her toy and found herself at Beacon Academy, much to her fathers denied, yet visible dismay.

_Slash, parry, thrust, turn, deflect, turn again, form six._

A few months after that she found herself in a team. She had wanted to be team leader, and had been severely disappointed that she was not put in charge. She had taken her frustrations out on poor Ruby who had been dubbed her partner and had fallen into a pit of anger, hatred and misery. Weiss could only describe how deplorably she had acted to Ruby at first as a bout of utter Bitchiness. She had held the rest of her team members at arm’s length, not wanting to associate with any of them. Soon though, after talking to Professor Port, she realized her wrongs and as he explained to her -in a very nice way- how how much of a Bitch she was being, Weiss had realized how wrong and impolite she had been acting. Armed with that knowledge and a will to change, she soon found herself with real friends, people she could relate to and trust. Sure she had gotten off on the wrong foot with Ruby, but they had patched over the whole thing, and Ruby had found a real girl under the layer if ice that Weiss collected herself in.

Then there had been the incident with Blake, and because of how closed-minded Weiss had been, she had found herself in danger of losing a friend. A very close friend. The whole incident had almost torn the team apart, but they had put that past them like her and Ruby had done in the past and they became friends once more. Weiss had been very grateful her teammates were so forgiving.

After finding friends, Weiss had still cared about her grades and about excelling in everything she did, but suddenly becoming perfect seemed...impractical. Why would she want to be perfect in an imperfect world? It seemed to be the imperfections that made life worth living. It was then that Weiss had realized that maybe, just maybe, she didn't have to be perfect.

_Cut, deflect, spin, backslash, forward, form seven. Again!_

But now that she was alone, Weiss knew she had just been kidding herself. She needed to be perfect. After all, look where slacking off had gotten her. Nowhere. Perfection was the only answer. It was the only escape from the millions of dead souls who screamed accusations and insults and bloody murder at her at night.

_Cut, deflect, spin, backslash, forward, form seven. Again! Cut, deflect, spin, backslash, forward, form seven. Wrong, again! Cut, deflect, spin-_

Shaking muscles gave out and at last Weiss collapsed. The room spun as the Heiress hit the ground. The floor if the empty training room felt cool against her overheated skin as she lay panting against it. Everything from her fingertips to her calves to her pounding head was in pain. A side-splitting stitch drew her free arm around her stomach as she curled in a fetal position on the smooth floor. Her chest rose and fell in uneven fits and spurts of breath. _They're all dead._ She found herself thinking.

Weiss uncurled her shaking fingers from the handle of Myrenaster and let the sword fall the last few inches to the floor. Her eyes closed and she was surprised to feel tears leak out from between her pale lashes. She had to help, but she was not yet perfect, and she had to be perfect.  
  
_I will help_! She told herself as she slowly turned over and began to push her aching body up from the floor. Inch by inch she slowly pushed herself up into a standing position, scooping up Myrenaster along the way in shaking hands. _I will be perfect. I will be perfect_! She said over to herself repeating the mantra over and over. _I will be perfect._

 _Cut, deflect, spin, backslash, forward, form seven. Again! Cut, deflect, spin, backslash, forward, form seven. I will be perfect..._  
  
\----------------------------------------------------  
  
The night air was cool on Blake's skin. The streets of Vale loomed before her, broken and littered with bodies. Bodies of the Atlisean Knights and decomposing Grimm. Bodies of people, innocent civilians and huntresses and hunters alike could be seen at every turn.  
  
The cool breeze held the rancid tang of blood and inescapable oder of death. Vale had fallen almost two months ago and the carnage was worse than ever.  
  
As the Faunas girl ran across the rooftops, her eyes scanned the ruins that the once proud city of Vale now was. Two months had passed since Cinder's attack. Two months of fighting the rouge Atlasian Knights and Paladins. Two months of people dying. Two months of Hell.  
  
The streets were crawling with Grimm who had sensed the survivors despair and had simply gotten lost amongst the winding city streets. Members of the White Fang stood at almost every corner. The proud city had become a Hell-Scape and then a ghost town as the hunters and huntresses had attempted rescues for the survivors. Civilians had slowly been cleared out, leaving the city forlorn and empty aside from the horribly misled White Fang, ferocious Grimm and all of the bodies.  
  
Blake had aided in her fair share of rescue missions and Grimm slayings after she had fled from her team in the first hours of the attack, but now she had a different mission. Heart pounding, the faunas girl leaped over a gap in the roof tops and landed without a sound. Air coming short, Blake stopped on the roof and attempted to catch her breath.  
  
Amber ringed pupils expanded as she looked over the city, trying to place her location. Two months of living on the rooftops had brought her to know the city very well. Her gaze landed on the distant towers of Beacon Academy. The green light was now extinguished from the crumpled ruins of what once was Professor Ozpins office. The giant Wyvern still clung frozen to the tower, stopped in place. It wouldn't be a problem if it hadn't been one giant Grimm magnet. Blake had heard rumor that it was Ruby who had put it there, but having ran from her team she hadn't seen the young leader to verify the rumor.  
  
Sighing, Blake slowly lowered her aching body down on the cold metal roof finally having figured out where she was. She was on the top of a warehouse in the center of the city. Below her she could hear the occasional yells of a White Fang member which was usually followed by gunfire. Either some poor civilian was having an unlucky day, or some Grimm was about to tear through their ranks. Blake found she really didn't care at the moment.  
  
The Faunas girl was so, so tired. She just wanted things to go back to normal but she knew nothing would ever be normal again after this. The first hours after the battle had begun, it had all seemed like some sort of twisted dream, though after her encounter with Adam, things had suddenly became very, very real. After the first few hours of the battle she had run away from her team, though not because she was afraid. She had run because she was putting them all in danger. Adam had hurt her partner in a way that she wouldn't ever be able to heal from, and for that Blake couldn't forgive herself. She didn’t expect that Yang would be able forgive her either. But after what she was planning to do, she didn’t expect herself to come out alive. Though, after what she was expecting to go through in the time to come, death may come as a welcome.  
  
Lying on her back, she closed her eyes and her thoughts drifted and spiraled around her, no different than every other time. Every time she had lied down, her thoughts seemed to circle on one person. Adam. _Adam_. She thought to herself.  
  
_Adam_. The man who had lead her branch of the White Fang into battle for their rights. Adam. The man who had killed for the so called “greater good” of the Faunas race. Adam. The man who had been her partner for years. Who had infected her with a hatred for humans. The man who had turned her world the wrong way and led her into the darkness until she had suddenly found the light. The man who through his countless acts of evil had inadvertently shown her the light. The man who she once loved. Who had hurt her partner for trying to save Blake’s life. Who was bent on making her life a living Hell. _Adam_. She thought again. _The man I’m about to crawl back to._  
  
The dark thoughts made her chuckle. Three months ago if anyone had left her as alone as she was now and then had asked who she wished to see the most, Blake would’ve answered immediately, without hesitation and have said that she would like to see Yang most of all. The beautiful blonde who always was ready with a pun. The strong brawler who was just a little overprotective of her younger half-sister. But ask her two months ago after the siege on Vale and Blake would’ve paused. She would’ve thought it over, because she was sure that after all that happened, Yang wouldn’t ever want to lay her lilac eyes on the Faunas again.  
  
Silence ensued as the closest sounds of gunfire replaced by a strange quietness. Visions of Yang flashed through Blake’s mind, drifting just below closed eyelids. The thoughts of the smiling Blond that she liked to remember pulling her down into a soft and dreamless sleep, the last thing Blake remembering was of having a vague prickle in her aura, the feeling a sixth sense alerting her of nearby danger. Blake ignored it. She was just so tired.  
  
\--------------------------------------------   
The tree Yang was sitting under was utterly beautiful. Nearly twenty feet tall, it had a thin trunk and several branches smoothly growing out from it like thin and slender fingers. Twigs full of blushing red and orange leaves jutted out from the main branches, and the nighttime breeze shook them slightly, earning a pleasant rustling. The red leaves seemed loath to let go of their branch but instead held tightly to it, clinging there as though it was their last hope of staying alive. Maybe it was. It was graceful and beautiful yet so very sad to see. Maybe that’s why she was crying.  
  
The girl who could withstand full force punches from a full size Paladin suit. The girl who simultaneously flirted and succeeded in beating the shit out of two dozen and some guards. The girl who didn’t even cry when the lower half of her right arm had been completely severed from her body with a burning red blade, was crying. _At some Goddamn tree!_  
  
Thick, crystalline drops ran down her lightly tanned cheeks like two small streams. Heavy drops leaked from in between closed eyes as Yang squeezed her eyes shut. She shouldn’t be crying. She was alive after all, right? She should be glad that she escaped with her life, and most of her body. It shouldn’t matter that she wouldn’t be able to use Ember Celica anymore, and if she ever was able to it wouldn’t be the same. It shouldn’t matter that she would never be able to be a Huntress after this stupid battle. It shouldn’t matter that Blake had run away, after all the Faunas had said that was what she did, so there was no reason for Yang to expect otherwise.  
  
No, that shouldn’t matter at all. What should matter was that she was alive. It should matter that she had a life ahead of her and she had years to figure out what to do with it, provided the battle was won by their side. It should matter that Ruby was alive at all, and that their Uncle Qrow and father and their friends were alive just the same. But just because they’re alive, doesn’t mean they are living. Not the life they want to at least.  
  
But what should’ve mattered didn’t at all. Ruby may have been alive the last time Yang had seen her, but she had no idea if she was now. Qrow had left and while her father was here, Yang had never been very close to him. It had always been Ruby who had been on more friendly terms with him. Yang had always felt there had been a divide between the two of them and while she cared about him, she had never felt the need to bridge the gap. That had not changed of recent.  
  
Maybe it wasn’t the tree making her cry then. Maybe it was the crushing thoughts of the fact that she was broken and in pieces and would never be able to be a huntress anymore. The thoughts of how, as an occasional red leaf drifted past her blurry field of vision, she may never know if Ruby or Qrow or any of her remaining friends was alive or dead.  
  
The mere thought of it made the tears leak out of red rimmed lilac eyes faster. Yang blinked her eyes open, the blurry scene of their small house’s back yard assaulting her pupils. The normally lush grass was covered in a thin layer of ice, and the flowers that usually bordered the house were shriveled up and brown. The blackness of the night seemed to press around everything like a thick, heavy weight. It was a fragile and sat sight, and Yang didn’t feel like looking at it anymore, even if it was through the blurry haze of her tears.  
  
Wiping at her eyes with her hand -the only one she had left- she sighed and sank back against the tree behind her that had triggered her fit of tears and closed her eyes again. It wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t feel so...useless. That’s what it was.  
  
More tears came, but this time they were the heated tears of frustration. Hot and burning they found their way out between her eyelids and rolled down her cheeks one at a time. Yang felt...no, she was useless. Ruby may have run away to fight a war that she couldn’t win, but at least she was trying. Yang wasn’t doing anything.  
  
You lost an arm, no one expects you to be doing anything. She thought, trying to console herself, but when it came down to it, she was just lying to herself. She was a liability. A burden, and one that didn’t even have two arms to hang on.  
  
Well, dad’s not doing shit either... But Yang knew that was a lie. With her arm severed, he had to stay and take care of her. Normal tasks had become difficult for Yang, and she needed someone to help her along. If she wasn’t around, then her father wouldn’t have to take care of her, he would be out helping fight in the battle. As a respected huntsman who was very good, he would add the strength of a platoon of soldiers.  
  
Damn it Yang, you just drag everyone down! You’re a useless, lazy, broken little brat. Yang thought, her eyes flickering open again, twin crimson orbs staring at the frosty ground. But the red hadn’t resulted from anger. Yang had just felt like someone had stomped on her heart and ground it under their heel into a bloody pulp.

Oddly enogh, she chuckled at the though. Maybe it was the battle or the fact she had been chronically wounded, but the normally bubbly Brawler had been laughing at the darkest of thoughts. Yang wondered if maybe somewhere out there, Blake was laughing just the same at some dark thought of her own.  
  
Blake. Yang missed the quiet Faunas. The dark haired girl who always seemed to have her nose buried in a book and a whispered witty remark to Weiss’s more...eccentric antics. Yang missed her partner, maybe more than she even missed Ruby. Every day she found herself constantly worrying for her team. It always seemed to be Ruby first, wondering if her sister was still alive. Then Blake and then Weiss, wondering if her teammate’s names would show up on the list of the dead. Not that she doubted Blake’s abilities, after all, the Faunas girl had made it this far as a member of the White Fang, having only her cunning and Gambol Shroud as her back-up on the streets -well at least to Yang’s knowledge- so she knew she could protect herself. That didn't stop the constant worry from settling into her bones. It was painful to her, like a hundred weights were pulling down her limbs and pressing down on her chest.  
  
Maybe Yang was worrying too much, but she didn’t think she could ever forgive herself if Blake ended up dead. Too bad you’re not doing shit to help her.  
  



End file.
